Automobile-buffer



G. A. LYON.

AUTOMOBILE BUFFER.

APPucAnon FILED mu 22. me.

w w 3, n

m aim? u h I G lit GEORGE ALBERT LYON, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMOBILE-BUFFER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 23, 1919.

Continuation in part of applications Serial No. 170,129, filed May 22, 1917, and Serial No. 236,513, filed May 25, 1918. This application filed June 22,1918. Serial No. 241,308.

panying drawing, which forms part of the 10 same.

The invention in this case which is a continuation in part of my copending applications Serial No. 170,129, filed May 22, 1917, and Serial No. 236,513,1i1ed May 25, 1918, that is, it contains subject-matter taken therefrom, relates to resilient or spring strip buffers for use on automobiles or similar vehicles. The buffer front or im-.

pact receiving member of the buffer may e formed of one or more strips of spring steel or resilient metal and may. be supported by separate spring strip attaching members attached 'to the automobile frame and referably having forwardly and outwardly curved portions which are removably connected to the impact receivin portion of the buffer adjacent its ends. 11 this way the buffer members may be disconnected for shipping purposes and may be packed into relatively small compass, and this is also facilitated by making thebufl'er front of a plurality of partially overlapping reinforcing resilient strips which also makes the bufi'er of adjustable width,'a lthough of course the attaching members may be adjustably connected to the spring strip buffer front so that by adjusting their relative position the buffer may have the distance between its attaching members adjusted so as to fit automobiles having different width frame members.

In the accompanying drawing showing in a somewhat diagrammatic way illustrative embodiments of the invention- Figure 1 is a top view showing one embodiment.

Fi 2 is a transverse section taken s'ubstantlally along the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 to show one form of connecting member or clip. i

Fig. 3 is a top view showing another embodiment.

Fig. 1 is a partial side view thereof showing the attaching member thereof taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse section showln the cli and cooperating members taken a ong the ine 5--5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. -6 is a rear view of the clip and connected parts.

F ig. 7 is a top view showing another form of buifer.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged rear elevation showing another form of connecting clip.

ig. 9 is a similar view showing still another form as used in Fig. 7; and

Fig. 10 is a transverse section showing the same and taken substantially along the line 10--10 of Fig. 7.

The impact receiving member or front member of the buffer may be made of adjustable width by forming it of overlappin members which are ad ustably connected together in any suitable way so that by adjusting the extent to which these members overlap at the central portion of the buffer the total width of the impact receiving 'ember can be correspondingly varied. It is desirable to form these impact receiving members of resilient spring steel strips having many times as great vertical as horizon tal rigidity which can be conveniently done by giving the strips of s ring steel six or eight times as great a vertical width as their thickness in a horizontal direction as explained in greater detail in the Lyon Patent 1,198,246, of September 12, 1916. As

indicated in Fig. 1, the impact receiving members'i, 10 may be adjustably connected by the clips, 11, such as described and shown iii detail in said patent, and in this way by having one of these clips adjacent one end 3- of the forward impact receiving member 1, for instance, its other'end 5 may extend out a considerable distance beyond the end 9 of the other impact receiving member under collision conditions and by making these members uniformly curved at least throughout'their overlapping portions adjustment and connection of these two members may be correspondingly facilitated.

I teac es I The buffer may also comprise rearwardly extending attaching members preferably formed of similar vertically rigid and horizontally yielding spring stri and these attaching members may be rearward portion adapted tobe rigidly secured to the frame of the automobile or other vehicle while their forwardly and outwardly curved portions 6, 7 are preferably formed with ends havin substantially the same curvature as the ad acent parts of the impact receiving or front members so that they may be more readily secured thereto in adjusted position by suitable cli s 11. By making these connections adjusta lethe dlstance'apart of the attachin members 1, 2, ma be correspondingly varied to adapt the bu er for attachment to vehicles having the adj ustably frame or other supporting members .at different distances apart. The construction of connecting member or cli is illustrated in Fig. 2. The ends 14 of this metallic clip 11 have a diagonal position so that the bolt13 and nut 12 can tighten the buffer strips 4, 10 within the clips in both a vertical and 'horizontal direction. Also by having these clip ends extend rearward and downward behind the buffer front or impact receiving member the bolt and clip ends are very largely concealed so that theclips resemble mere bands.

The bufi'ershown in Fig. 3 may comprise a similar impact receivin -member formed of the resilient spring stee strips 4:, 10. The central or overlapping portions of these front strips of the buffer may be adjustably connected by any suitable connecting members or clips and the contact ends of this buffer front may be detachably connected to the cooperating contact or connector por tions 40 of the separate attaching strips or members 1, 2 by suitable means, such for instance as the U-bolt connectors 15 illustrated;

Both arms of these U-bolt connectors may as indicated pass through suitable holes or openings in the coiiperating connector por tions of the buffer front strips and attaching strips and the nuts 16 on the threaded ends of these bolt arms may clamp the spring strip members together in connection if desired with suitable lock washers 17. The

use of such U-bolt connectors is advantageous in this connection because it furnishes a double security against the loosening of the parts, the U-bolt still remaining in position if one of then'uts becomes loosened or even lost. These U-bolt attaching connectors co operating with the attaching members of the buffer are also'desirable because they stiffen and aline the two buffer members through which each arm of one of the connector devices passes so as to minimize or prevent vertical movement between them if the nuts are tightened. The attaching members 1, 2 may be secured to the automobile ormed with .a l

frame in an suitable way and as indicated in Fig. 4 t ey may be formed with bent ends 22 provided with attaching openings or slots such as 23, 24 with which are adapted to cooperate such hook bolt connectors as are shown in the Lyon Patent 1,266,836, of May 21, 1918.

A simple and effective form of connecting clip or member for encircling and adjustably connecting bumper strips of this character is shown in greater detail in Figs. 5 and 6 as formed essentially of a single piece of round spring steel stock for instance.

As indicated in Fig. 6 this tightening portion 19 may be of substantially yoke form having a slot 25 in which the threaded tightenin end of the clip is adapted to fit, the stock eing forged or flattened from the point 31 to form this yoke. By forming the clips of this character so that they have a fairly tight engagement with the buffer strips at their closed or U-shaped ends away from the threaded tightening end of the clip they may be screwed up so as to tightly compress the buffer clips at both thetightening end of the clip and the other thereof,

where a considerable resilient tightening action is secured so that a strong integral clip of forged metal can thus be produced which is very effective for this hard service. Fig. 8 shows another form of connecting clip of this general character in which the clip 41 is formed with a similar threaded tightening end and with a cooperating flat tightening portion 38 of hook form-which may have the hook end 40 extending in a more or less diagonal direction toward the closed end of the connecting clip and preferably overlapping the cooperating buffer strips 4, 10, so that the nut on this tightening hook member can clamp both cooperating parts of this flat tightening portion against the buffer strips. With thls hook form of tightening portion a diagonal slot 39 is formed into which the threaded tightening end of the clamp may be forced durin the bending and forging processes by which the clip is made and the hook positively prevents the threaded tightening end moving away from the cooperating closed end of the clip on the opposite edge of. the buffer strips. Still another form of integral connecting clip or member is shown in Figs. 9 and 10 as formed of a I ie'ce of round stock 32 having the threa ed tightening end 36 with whichmay clip which may be ofsubstantially circular cross section, if desired, is shown as bent. around into the form of a loop 37 to inclose the threaded tightening end; and the end 33 of this round stock may, if desired, be electrically welded or otherwise secured to the body of the clip so as to positively prevent any openin action. This form of clip gives substantia y the full strength of the stock and the two arms of the tightening loop member give ample bearing on the buffer strips when the nuts are tightened.

llnFig. 7 the front or impact receiving member of the bull-er may be of any suitable form or construction and it may ad vantageously be formed of a plurality of more or less overlapping spring strips such as 26, 27, which as indicated in Fig. 3 may be forwardly bowed and may have substantially uniform curvature so as to give a pleasing appearance to the finished buffer and allow'lateral adjustment of these im-' pact receiving members when it is desired to have a buffer of adjustable width to fit different width vehicle frames. Any suitable connecting means may be used to connect these front members preferably in a vertically rigid manner and at the same time effecting the desired lateral adjustment of these spring strips when the buffer is to be used on different automobiles. For this purpose the connecting clips 32, 34, such as described in connection with Figs. 9 and 10 may be used adjacent the inner ends 39, 43, of these front impact receiving members to clamp them to the cooperating spring strips. The spring strip attaching members, 1, 2 may have forwardly and" outwardly curved portions bolted or otherwise connected to the ends of the impact receiv-' ing members and either one of these sets of members may be formed with a resilient end loop portion to increase the resilience of the buffer. If desired these resilient end loops, such as 28, may be formed on the ends of the impact receivlng members which .gives a pleasing appearance to the buffer "connectors, such as 15, are desirab e for this purpose and as indicated they may extend through suitable holes in the cooperating connector portions of these sprin strip members so as to not only frictlonally hold them together, but to maintain them in substantial vertical alinement when the nuts 17 on the bolt shanks are screwed down on the lock washers 17, for .example. It is not of course necessary to have the connector portions of-thetwo cooperating strips to be connected together formed with the same curvature throughout, and in some instances it is desirable to have one or more of the ends of these spring strip connector portions diverge more or less from the cooperating buffer strip as in Fig. 7 for instance. This not only accommodates any slight change of angle of the parts due to lateral adjustment or to slight inaccuracies of contour, but also makes it possible to positively prevent rattling by forcingtogether by suitable connecting members of U-bolt or other form these somewhat convex resilientstrips and this form of connector contact portions may of course be used with the other forms of buffers previously described, if desired.

This invention has been described in connection with a number. of embodiments,

forms proportions, parts, arrangements,

materials, methods of connection and use, to the details of which disclosure the invention is not of course to be limited, since what is claimed as new and what is desired to be secured by Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims.

I claim 1. The automobile bufi'er comprising a resilient front portion composed of two fiat spring strip impact receiving members having forwardly 'bowedfconnected overlapping reinforcing portions, and having end connector portions to extend outward into protective position in front of the automobile wheels, cooperating spring strip attaching members having attaching ends provided with attaching openings adapted to be clamped to the automobile frame and having forwardly and outwardly curved portions and end connector portions cocpcrating with the connector portions of said 116 'maintaining them in substantial vertical alinement. V w 2. The automobile bufi'er comprising a resilient front portion composed of two flat spring strip impact receivlng members having connected overlapping reinforcing portions, and havin end connector portions to extend outward into protective position in front of the automobile wheels, cooperating spring strip attaching members having substantiall attaching ends provided with attaching openings adapted to be clamped'to the automobile frame and having forwardly and outwardly curved portions and end connector portions cooperating with the connector portions of said 'u'mpact receiving members and U-bolt connectors engaging said cooperating connector portions and bolting the same together and positively maintaining them in substantial vertical alinement.

3. The automobile bufi'er comprising a uniformly curved forwardly bowed resihent front portion composed of flat strip, and having free end connector portions to extend outward into protective position in front of the, automobile wheels, cooperating resilient strip attaching members having attaching ends provided with attaching openings adapted to be clamped to the automobile frame and having forwardly and outwardly curved portions and end connector portions to be detachably connected to the connector portions of said impact receiving members and having-approximately the same curvature and U-bolt connectors passing through a plurality of apertures in eachv of said cooperating 0on nector portions and bolting the same to-- gether and promoting their vertical aline- .ment.

4. The automobile bufier comprising a substantiall uniformly curved forwardly bowed resillent front portion composed of tive position adjacent the -wheels, cooperating vertically rigid spring fiat stri and connector portions to extend outward into protective position in front of the automobile wheels, cooperating resilient strip attaching members having attaching ends provided with attaching openings adapted to be clamped to the automobile frame and having forwardly and outwardly curved portions and end connector portions detachably connected to the connector portions of said impact receiving members and having approximately the same curvature and U-bolt connectors passing through a plurality of apertures in each of said cooperating connector portions and bolting the same together and promoting their vertical alinement.

5. The automobile buflcr comprising a vertically rigid horizontally yielding spring strip front portion composed of a plural: ity of flat spring strip impact receiving members having forwardlybowed overlapping reinforcing portions, and having outer connector portions to extend into protecautomobile strip attaching members adapted to be clamped to the automobile frame and having forwardly and outwardly curved portions and curved end connector portions 00- operating with the connector portions of said impact receivingmembers and having approximately the same curvature and U- bolt connectors detachably connecting said roiiperating connector portions of said -ferent width.

6. The automobile bufier comprising a resilient strip front portion and cooperating flat spring strip members having overlapping portions, one piece connector clips encircling said overlapping portions and comprising an integral threaded tightening end, an engaging tightening nut and, a cooperating substantially flat tightening portion to be clamped against the flat sides of the buifer strips, and having a hook retaining portion to prevent undesirable disengagement of said threaded tightening end.

-7. The automobile buffer comprising a resilient strip front portion and'cooperating flat spring strip members having overlapping portions, one piece connector clips encircling said overlapping portions and comprising an integral threaded tightening end,

and a cooperating substantially flat tightening portion tobe clamped against the buffer strips, and having a retaining portion to prevent undesirable disengagement of said threaded tightening end.

8. The automobile buffer comprising a resilient strip front portion and cooperating flat spring strip members having overlapping portlons, one piece connector clips en- .site the buffer strips to be clamped thereto and having a hook form extending sufliciently around the threaded tightening end to prevent it undesirably moving away from the opposite closed end of the clip.

' 10. The one piece connector clip adapted for adjustably connecting automobile buffer strips which'is formed of round stock bent to closely encircle the bufler strips and formed with a threaded tightening end with which a tightening inut may engage and which is formed with a cooperating integral tightening member having a nut engaging portion through which said tightening end passes and opposite the butter strips to be clamped thereto and extending sufiiciently memes ing end with which a tightening nut may engage and which is formed with a coo-perating integral tightening member having a nut engaging portion opposite the buffer strips to be clamped thereto and extending sufliciently around the threaded tightening end to prevent it undesirably moving away 1 from the oppositeclosed end of thevclip.

12. The one piece connecting clip adapted for adj ustably connectin bufl'e'r strips'which is formedof round stoc bent to'closely encircle the bufi'er strips and formed with a threaded tightening end with which a tightening nut may engage and which is formed with a cooperating integral tightening memher having a substantially flat tightening nut engaging portion through which said tightening end passes and opposite the bufi'er strips to be clamped thereto and sufliciently embracing the threaded tightening end to fprevent undesirable lateral movement thereo 13. The one piece connecting clip adapted for adj ustably connecting'buffer'strips which is bentto closely encircle the buffer strips and formed with a tightening end With which a tightening device may engage and which is formed with a cooperating integral tightening member having a substantially flat tightening device engaging portion through which .said tighteningend passes and opposite the buifer strips to be clamped thereto; and sufficiently embracing the threaded tightening end to prevent undesirable lateral movement thereof.

, 14. The one piece connecting clip adapted for adjustably connecting bufi'er strips which is bent to closely encircle the buffer strips 

